Old men delight in giving good advice as a consolation for the fact that they can no longer set bad examples.
[Les vieillards aiment à donner de bons préceptes, pour se consoler de n’être plus en état de donner de mauvais exemples.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶93 (1665-1678) [tr. Bund/Friswell (1871)]
(Source)
Appeared in the 1st (1665) edition.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Old Folks love mightily to give good Advice, because this makes them some sort of Amends, for being incapable now of setting Ill Examples.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶94]Old-age gives good advice, when it is no longer able to give bad example.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶322; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶90]Old men; are fond of giving good advice, to console themselves for being no longer in a position to give bad examples.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶97]Old people like to give good advice, since they can no longer set bad examples.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶93]Old people are fond of giving good advice to console themselves for being no longer able to give bad examples.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶93]Old people love to give good advice: it compensates them for their inability nowadays to set a bad example.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶93]Old men love to give good advice to console themselves for not being able to set bad examples.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶93]Old people are fond of giving good advice; it consoles them for no longer being capable of setting a bad example.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶93]Old men love to give good precepts in order to console themselves for no longer being able to set bad examples.
[tr. Whichello (2016), ¶93]
We are never quite as happy, or as unhappy, as we think.
[On n’est jamais si heureux ni si malheureux qu’on s’imagine.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶49 (1665-1678) [tr. FitzGibbon (1957)]
(Source)
Present in the first edition. In the first four editions, the concluding words were "... que l’on pense [whatever one thinks]." In the manuscript, this maxim read:One is never so unhappy as one fears, nor so happy as one hopes.
[On n’est jamais si malheureux qu’on craint, ni si heureux qu’on espère.]
Another manuscript version is what the Davies translation below derives from:Les biens et les maux sont plus grands dans notre imagination qu’ils ne le sont en effet, et on n’est jamais si heureux ni si malheureux que l’on pense.
Above notes. (Source (French)). Alternate translations:Goods and Evils are much greater in our imaginations of them, than they are in effect; and men are never so happy or unhappy, as they think themselves.
[tr. Davies (1669), ¶128; see above.]None are either so happy or so unhappy, as they imagine.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶211; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶49]No person is either so happy;, or so unhappy, as he imagines.
[ed. Carville (1835), ¶184]We are never so happy, or so unhappy, as we imagine.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶50]We are never so happy or so unhappy as we suppose.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871); tr. Stevens (1939)]We are never as happy or unhappy as we think.
[tr. Heard (1917)]We are never so happy or so unhappy as we think.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959)]We are never as fortunate or as unfortunate as we suppose.
[tr. Tancock (1959)]We are never so happy nor so unhappy as we imagine.
[tr. Whichello (2016)]
‘Tis as easy to deceive one’s self without perceiving it, as it is difficult to deceive others without being perceived.
[Il est aussi facile de se tromper soi-même sans s’en apercevoir qu’il est difficile de tromper les autres sans qu’ils s’en aperçoivent.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #115 (1665-1678)
If we had no faults of our own, we would not take so much pleasure in noticing those of others.
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims] (1665-1678)
We rarely find that people have good sense unless they agree with us.
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #347 (1665-1678)
Alt. trans.: "We hardly find any persons of good sense save those who agree with us."
Those qualities we have do not make us so ridiculous as those which we affect.
[On n’est jamais si ridicule par les qualités que l’on a que par celles que l’on affecte d’avoir.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #134 (1665-1678)
It is no tragedy to do ungrateful people favors, but it is unbearable to be indebted to a scoundrel.
[Ce n’est pas un grand malheur d’obliger des ingrats, mais c’en est un insupportable d’être obligé à un malhonnête homme.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #317 (1665-1678)
Quarrels would not last long if the fault were on one side only.
[Les querelles ne dureraient pas longtemps, si le tort n’était que d’un côté.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #496 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959)]
Alt. trans.:
- "Quarrels would not last so long if the fault were only on one side."
- "Quarrels would not last long if the fault were only on one side."
We often forgive those who bore us, but we cannot forgive those who find us boring.
[Nous pardonnons souvent à ceux qui nous ennuient, mais nous ne pouvons pardonner à ceux que nous ennuyons.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #304 (1665-1678) [tr. L. Tancock (1959)]
True love, like a ghost, is much talked of but seldom seen.
[Il est du véritable amour comme de l’apparition des esprits tout le monde en parle, mais peu de gens en ont vu.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶76 (1665-1678) [tr. Stevens (1939)]
(Source)
Present in the 1st (1665) edition; in that edition, the first phrase read more globally as "Il est de l’amour comme de l’apparition ..."
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:It is with True Love, as with Ghosts and Apparitions, a thing that every body talks of, and scarce any body hath seen.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶77]It is with true love as with apparitions. Every one talks of it, but few have ever seen it.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶80]There is real love just as there are real ghosts; every person speaks of it, few persons have seen it.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871)]True love is like a ghost; everyone talks of it, few have seen it.
[tr. Heard (1917)]True love is like psychic experience. Everybody tells ghost stories but few of us have ever seen a ghost.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957)]True love is like seeing ghosts; we all talk about it, but few of us have ever seen one.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959)]True love is like ghostly apparitions: everybody talks about them but few have ever seen one.
[tr. Tancock (1959)]It is with true love as it is with ghosts: everybody talks about it, but few have seen it.
[tr. Whichello (2016)]
Men are oftener treacherous out of weakness than out of any formed design.
[L’on fait plus souvent des trahisons par faiblesse que par un dessein formé de trahir.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #120 (1665-1678)
There are scarcely any who are not ashamed of having loved, when they love no longer.
[Il n’y a guère de gens qui ne soient honteux de s’être aimés quand ils ne s’aiment plus.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶71 (1665-1678) [tr. Stevens (1939)]
(Source)
First appeared in the fifth (1678) edition.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:There are few people who are not ashamed of their amours when the fit is over.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶271; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶69]Most people are ashamed of their amours when the fit is over.
[ed. Carville (1835), ¶232]There are very few people who, when their love is over, are not ashamed of having been in love.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶181]There are few people who would not be ashamed of being beloved when they love no longer.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871)]There are few of us who are not ashamed of a mutual passion when love has died.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶177]When two people have ceased to love, the memory that remains is almost always one of shame.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957)]Few people, when they love no longer, but feel shame for having loved.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959)]There are few people who, when their love for each other is dead, are not ashamed of that love.
[tr. Tancock (1959)]There are few people who are not ashamed of having loved each other when they no longer do so.
[tr. Whichello (2016)]
Those who are incapable of committing great crimes do not readily suspect them in others.
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
(Attributed)
Before we set our hearts too much on anything, let us examine how happy are those who already possess it.
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
(Attributed)
Flattery is counterfeit money which, but for vanity, would have no circulation.
[La flatterie est une fausse monnaie qui n’a de cours que par notre vanité]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #158 (1665-1678) [tr. Kronenberger (1959)]
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
Lao-tzu (604?-531? BC) Chinese philosopher, poet [also Lao-tse, Laozi]
(Attributed)
He who controls others may be powerful but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.
Lao-tzu (604?-531? BC) Chinese philosopher, poet [also Lao-tse, Laozi]
(Attributed)
It is wisdom to know others. It is enlightenment to know one’s self.
Lao-tzu (604?-531? BC) Chinese philosopher, poet [also Lao-tse, Laozi]
The Way of Life, 33 [tr. Blakney (1955)]
Alt. trans.: "He who knows others is wise; He who knows himself is enlightened."
The world is won by those who let it go!
Lao-tzu (604?-531? BC) Chinese philosopher, poet [also Lao-tse, Laozi]
The Way of Life, Ch. 48
(trans R. B. Blakney, 1955)
Rule a kingdom as though you were cooking a small fish — don’t overdo it.
Lao-tzu (604?-531? BC) Chinese philosopher, poet [also Lao-tse, Laozi]
(Attributed)
Quarrel with a friend — and you are both wrong.
Lao-tzu (604?-531? BC) Chinese philosopher, poet [also Lao-tse, Laozi]
(Attributed)
He is aloof, as if his talk
Were priced beyond the purchasing;
But once his project is contrived,
The folk will want to say of it:
“Of course! We did it by ourselves!”Lao-tzu (604?-531? BC) Chinese philosopher, poet [also Lao-tse, Laozi]
The Way of Life, ch. 17 [tr. Blakney (1955)]
Alt. trans.:
- "A good manager is best when people barely know that he exists. Not so good when people obey and acclaim him. Worse when they despise him. But of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done -- his aim fulfilled, they will say: 'We did it ourselves.'"
- "When the effective leader is finished with his work, the people say it happened naturally."
People are constantly spoiling a project when it lacks only a step to completion.
Lao-tzu (604?-531? BC) Chinese philosopher, poet [also Lao-tse, Laozi]
The Way of Life, 64 [tr. Blakney (1955)]
Variant (?): "People in their handling of affairs often fail when they are about to succeed. If one remains as careful at the end as he was at the beginning, there will be no failure."
But all the wickedness in the world which man may do or think is no more to the mercy of God than a live coal dropped in the sea.
William Langland (1330-1387) English author
Piers Plowman
Rare is the person who can weigh the faults of others without putting his thumb on the scales.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Byron J. Langenfeld
He uses statistics as a drunkard uses a lamppost — for support rather than for illumination.
Andrew Lang (1844-1912) Scottish writer, journalist, historian
(Attributed)
Original source not found, but attributed by several sources to Lang in 1937, possibly derived from a comment by A. E. Houseman. More information here.
The man whose first question, after what he considers to be a right course of action has presented itself, is “What will people say?” is not the man to do anything at all.
Sir W. Arbuthnot Lane (1856-1938) Scottish orthopedic surgeon and writer
(Attributed)
in Lane As I Knew Him, W. E. Tanner
If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and when it comes, hold you head high, look it squarely in eye and say, ‘I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.’
Ann Landers (1918-2002) American advice columnist [pseud. for Eppie Lederer]
(Attributed)
There are good men everywhere. I only wish they had louder voices.
Louis L'Amour (1908-1988) American writer
Last of the Breed
There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.
Louis L'Amour (1908-1988) American writer
Lonely on the Mountain, ch. 1, opening paragraph (1980)
(Source)
Up to a point a man’s life is shaped by environment, heredity, and movements and changes in the world about him. Then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be. Only the weak blame their parents, their race, their times, lack of good fortune, or the quirks of fate. Everyone has it within his power to say, ‘This I am today; that I will be tomorrow.’ The wish, however, must be implemented by deeds.
Louis L'Amour (1908-1988) American writer
The Walking Drum
The one law that does not change is that everything changes, and the hardship I was bearing today was only a breath away from the pleasures I would have tomorrow, and those pleasures would be all the richer because of the memories of this I was enduring.
Louis L'Amour (1908-1988) American writer
(Attributed)
A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner, so if one’s life is cold and bare he can blame none but himself.
Louis L'Amour (1908-1988) American writer
Bendigo Shafter
Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.
Anne Lamott (b. 1954) American novelist and non-fiction writer
Bird by Bird, Introduction (1995)
To love for the sake of being loved is human, but to love for the sake of loving is angelic.
Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869) French poet and statesman
(Attributed)
When we ask advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.
Charles Varlet, Marquis de La Grange (1639-1692)
(Attributed)
All menʼs misfortunes proceed from their aversion to being alone; hence gambling, extravagance, dissipation, wine, women, ignorance, slander, envy, and forgetfulness of what we owe to God and ourselves.
[Tout notre mal vient de ne pouvoir être seuls: de là le jeu, le luxe, la dissipation, le vin, les femmes, l’ignorance, la médisance, l’envie, l’oubli de soi-même et de Dieu.]
Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 11 “Of Mankind [De l’Homme],” § 99 (11.99) (1688) [tr. Van Laun (1885)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:All men's misfortunes proceed from their inability to be alone, from Gaming, Riot, Extravagance, Wine, Women, Ignorance, Railing, Envy, and forgetting their duty towards God and themselves.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]All our Misfortunes proceed from an Inability to be alone; from thence come Gaming, Riot, Extravagance, Wine, Women, Ignorance, Railing, Envy, and forgetting God and our selves.
[Curll ed. (1713)]All Mens Misfortunes proceed from their Aversion to being alone; hence Gaming, Riot, Extravagance, Wine, Women, Ignorance, Railing, Envy and Forgetfulness of God and themselves.
[Browne ed. (1752)]All our misfortunes proceed from our inability to be alone; hence gaming, dissipation, wine, women, ignorance, slander, envy, neglect of God and ourselves.
[tr. Lee (1903)]All our troubles spring from our inability to endure solitude: hence come gaming, luxury, dissipation, drink, licentiousness, scandal-mongering, envy, the neglect of oneself and of God.
[tr. Stewart (1970)]
Men don’t so much blush for their Crimes, as for their Weaknesses and Vanity.
[Les hommes rougissent moins de leurs crimes que de leurs faiblesses et de leur vanité.]
Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 4 “Of the Heart [Du Coeur],” § 74 (4.74) (1688) [Bullord ed. (1696)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Men blush not so much for their Crimes, as for their Weaknesses and Vanity.
[Curll ed. (1713)]Men don't so much blush for their Crimes, as for their Weaknesses and Vanity.
[Browne ed. (1752)]Men are less ashamed of their crimes than of their weaknesses and their vanity.
[tr. Van Laun (1885)]Men are less ashamed of their crimes than of their failings and of what touches their vanity.
[tr. Stewart (1970)]
It’s a sign of considerable shrewdness to be able to make others think one is not exceptionally shrewd.
[C’est avoir fait un grand pas dans la finesse, que de faire penser de soi que l’on n’est que médiocrement fin.]
Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 8 “Of the Court [De la Cour],” § 85 (8.85) (1688) [tr. Stewart (1970)]
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:He is far gone in politicks, who begins to find he is but indifferently politick.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]He is far gone in Cunning, who makes other People believe he is but indifferently Cunning.
[Curll ed. (1713)]He is thorough-paced in Cunning, who makes others believe that he is no Conjurer.
[Browne ed. (1752)]A man must be very shrewd to make other people believe that he is not so sharp after all.
[tr. Van Laun (1885)]A man has made great progress in cunning when he does not seem too clever to others.
[Common Translation, e.g.]
He did not object to Gladstone’s always having the ace of trumps up his sleeve, but only to his pretense that God put it there.
Henry Du Pré Labouchère (1831-1912) English politician, writer, publisher
(Attributed)
I’ve never had much enthusiasm for pornography. Watching people have congress is a bit like watching people eat, in that eating is both necessary and satisfying, but when watching someone else do it, you just want to tell them to chew with their mouth closed.
Matt Labash (b. 1971) American journalist
The Weekly Standard, “How to be a Porn Star” (18 Sep. 2002)
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/001/671hnsjc.asp
When your life is filled with the desire to see the holiness in everyday life, something magical happens: ordinary life becomes extraordinary, and the very process of life begins to nourish your soul!
Harold S. Kushner (b. 1935) American author, rabbi
(Attributed)
There are no things that man was not meant to know. There are, perhaps, some things man is too dumb to figure out, but that’s a different problem.
Michael Kurland (b. 1938) American writer
(Attributed)
She would have liked to tell them that behind Communism, Fascism, behind all occupations and invasions lurks a more basic, pervasive evil and that the image of that evil was a parade of people marching by with raised fists and shouting identical syllables in unison.
Milan Kundera (b. 1929) Czech-French novelist, playwright, poet
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want.
Joseph Wood Krutch (1893-1970) American educator, writer, critic, naturalist
The Twelve Seasons, “February” (1949)
(Source)
Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even when there is no river.
Nikita S. Krushchev (1894-1971) Soviet politician
(Attributed)
Honor isn’t about making the right choices. It’s about dealing with the consequences.
Midori Koto (b. 1971) Japanese violinist [a.k.a. Midori Goto, Midori]
(Attributed)
There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking.
Alfred Korzybski (1879-1950) American semanticist
(Attributed)
Unsourced. See Poincare.
To face despair and not give in to it, that’s courage.
Ted Koppel (b. 1940) Anglo-American journalist [Edward James Koppel]
Charlie Rose TV interview, PBS (29 Feb. 1996)
Writing a novel is like making love, but it’s also like having a tooth pulled. Pleasure and pain. Sometimes it’s like making love while having a tooth pulled.
Dean Koontz (b. 1945) American writer [also writes as Leigh Nichols]
(Attributed)
I am afraid of dying — but being dead, oh yes, that to me is often an appealing prospect.
Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945) German artist
Diaries and Letters
This leads to the paradox that the more original a discovery the more obvious it seems afterwards. The creative act is not an act of creation in the sense of the Old Testament. It does not create something out of nothing: it uncovers, selects, re-shuffles, combines, synthesizes already existing facts, idea, faculties, skills. The more familiar the parts, the more striking the new whole.
Alfred Koestler (1905-1983) Hungarian-English novelist, essayist
The Act of Creation (1969) p.120
There is no doubt that the “grail” of efficiency leads to abuse. Programmers waste enormous amounts of time thinking about, or worrying about, the speed of noncritical parts of their programs, and these attempts at efficiency actually have a strong negative impact when debugging and maintenance are considered. We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil.
Donald E. Knuth (b. 1938) American computer scientist, mathematician, academic
“Structured Programming with go to Statements,” ACM Journal Computing Surveys (Dec 1974)
When I keep putting something off, it may not be procrastination, but a decision I’ve already made and not yet admitted to myself.
Judith M. Knowlton (contemp.) American motivational writer
(Attributed)
As a professor, I tended to think of history as run by impersonal forces. But when you see it in practice, you see the difference personalities make.
Henry Kissinger (1923-2024) German-American diplomat
Remark to reporters after first Middle East shuttle visit (Jan. 1974)
Walter Isaacson, Kissinger: A Biography, introduction, 1992
The politics of the university are so intense because the stakes are so low.
Wallace Sayre (1905-1972) U.S. political scientist, academic
Sayre’s Third Law
One of several formulations of the same sentiment, which has also been attributed to Richard Neustadt, Jesse Unruh, Henry Kissinger ("University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small"), Charles Philip Issawi ("In any dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the issues at stake. That is why academic politics are so bitter"), Lawrence Peter, C.P. Snow, and others, with antecedents by Samuel Johnson and Woodrow Wilson. Most of the attributions come in the early-mid 1970s, though Herbert Kaufman, a colleague, claimed Sayres had used the phrase for decades.
See also Quote Investigator, Quote Verifier, and Wikipedia for more discussion.
There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.
Henry Kissinger (1923-2024) German-American diplomat
(Attributed)
In P. Anderson, "The Only Power Kissinger Has Is the Confidence of the President," New York Times Magazine (1 Jun 1969)
A statesman’s final test is whether he has made a contribution to the well-being of mankind.
Henry Kissinger (1923-2024) German-American diplomat
Years of Upheaval, ch. 8 (1982)
The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.
Henry Kissinger (1923-2024) German-American diplomat
Quoted in Washington Post (23 Dec 1973)
See Santayana.
Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.
Henry Kissinger (1923-2024) German-American diplomat
(Attributed)
Quoted by Richard Nixon, interview with Barbara Walters (8 May 1985)
We must learn to distinguish morality from moralizing.
Henry Kissinger (1923-2024) German-American diplomat
(Attributed)
By all ye cry and whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your Gods and you.Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) English writer
“The White Man’s Burden”
White hands cling to the bridle rein,
Slipping the spur from the booted heel;
Tenderest voices cry ‘Turn again!’
Red lips tarnish the scabbarded steel;
Down to Gehenna or up to the Throne,
He travels fastest who travels alone.Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) English writer
(Attributed)
More men are killed by overwork than the importance of the world justifies.
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) English writer
The Phantom ‘Rickshaw
Everyone is more or less mad on one point.
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) English writer
“On the Strength of a Likeness”
I always prefer to believe the best of everybody — it saves so much trouble.
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) English writer
(Attributed)
For it’s Tommy this, and Tommy that, an’ ‘Chuck him out, the brute!’
But it’s ‘Saviour of ‘is country’ when the guns begin to shoot.Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) English writer
“Tommy,” Barrack-Room Ballads (1893)
All the people like us are We, and everyone else is They.
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) English writer
We and They (1926)
I never made a mistake in my life; at least, never one that I couldn’t explain away afterwards.
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) English writer
(Attributed)
We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.
Charles Kingsley (1819-1875) English clergyman, historian, essayist, novelist (pseud. "Parson Lot")
(Attributed)
The world goes up and the world goes down,
The sunshine follows the rain,
And yesterday’s sneer and yesterday’s frown
Can never come over again.Charles Kingsley (1819-1875) English clergyman, historian, essayist, novelist (pseud. "Parson Lot")
“Dolcino to Margaret” (1851)
GILES: Grave robbing? That’s new, interesting.
BUFFY: I know you meant to say ‘gross and disturbing.’
GILES: Yes, of course. It’s a terrible thing, must put a stop to it.David Tyron "Ty" King (b. 1959) American screenwriter, television producer
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 2×02 “Some Assembly Required” (1997)
In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
(Source)
Another phrase King used on repeated occasions, e.g., "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Therefore, no American can afford to be apathetic about the problem of racial justice. It is a problem that meets every man at his front door" -- "The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness," Speech, National Urban League, New York (6 Sep 1960).
It may well be that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition is not the glaring noisiness of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. It may be that our generation will have repent not only for the diabolical actions and vitriolic words of the children of darkness, but also for the crippling fears and tragic apathy of the children of light.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Christian Way of Life in Human Relations,” speech, General Assembly fo the National Council of Churches, St Louis (4 Dec 1957)
(Source)
Often paraphrased: "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." See also here.
Every crisis has both its dangers and its opportunities. Each can spell either salvation or doom.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 11 “Where Do We Go from Here?” (1958)
(Source)
There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,” sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama (24 Jan 1954)
(Source)
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Trumpet of Conscience,” Steeler Lecture (Nov 1967)
If a man hasn’t discovered something that he would die for, he isn’t fit to live.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Speech, Detroit (23 Jun 1963)
Freedom is not free.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Speech, Institute on Nonviolence and Social Change, Bethel Baptist Church (3 Dec 1959)
(Source)
True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 2 “Montgomery Before the Protest” (1958)
(Source)
Response to a Montgomery resident who complained that race relations had been so "peaceful and harmonious" before King and other protesters arrived.
A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Sermon, Selma, Alabama (8 Mar 1965)
Possibly the source of the uncited attributions (or variants) "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" and "The day we see the truth and cease to speak is the day we begin to die."
Now the judgment of God is upon us, and we must either learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
The Trumpet of Conscience (1967)
Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“On Being a Good Neighbor,” sec. 2, sermon, A Gift of Love (1963)
Will we continue to march to the drumbeat of conformity and respectability, or will we, listening to the beat of a more distant drum, move to its echoing sounds? Will we march only to the music of time, or will we, risking criticism and abuse, march to the soul-saving music of eternity?
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 2 “Transformed Nonconformist,” sec. 3 (1963)
(Source)
The soft-minded man always fears change. He feels security in the status quo, and he has an almost morbid fear of the new. For him, the greatest pain is the pain of a new idea.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
(Attributed)
The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents, and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“On Being a Good Neighbor,” sec. 1, sermon, A Gift of Love (1963)
(Source)
One who condones evils is just as guilty as the one who perpetrates it.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
(Attributed)
Be bold. If you’re going to make an error, make a doozy, and don’t be afraid to hit the ball.
Billie Jean King (b. 1943) American tennis player
(Attributed)
Love is the works of love. Christ’s love was not an inner feeling, a full heart and what-not: it was the work of love which was his life.
Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish philosopher, theologian
Journals
Frightful this is in a sense, but it is true, and every one who has merely some little knowledge of the human heart can verify it: there is nothing to which a man holds so desperately as to his sin.
Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish philosopher, theologian
Three Discourses at the Communion on Fridays
Prayer does not change God, but changes him who prays.
Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish philosopher, theologian
Works of Love (1847)
In a theatre it happened that a fire started off stage. The clown came out to tell the audience. They thought it was a joke and applauded. He told them again, and they became still more hilarious. This is the way, I suppose, that the world will be destroyed — amid the universal hilarity of wits and wags who think it is all a joke.
Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish philosopher, theologian
Either/Or, “Diapsalmata” (1843)
Alternate translation: "It happened that a fire broke out backstage in a theater. The clown came out to inform the public. They thought it was a jest and applauded. He repeated his warning. They shouted even louder. So I think the world will come to an end amid the general applause from all the wits who believe that it is a joke."
Alternate translation: "A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to the general applause of wits who believe it's a joke"
It is better to be roughly right than to be precisely wrong.
John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) English economist
(Misttributed)
Not attributed to Keynes until after his death. Actually from Carveth Read, Logic, deductive and inductive (1898): "It is better to be vaguely right than exactly wrong."
A problem well defined is a problem half solved.
Charles F. Kettering (1876-1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)
Jews do not presume to judge the honest worshiper of any faith. Our prayer book tells us: “The righteous of all nations are worthy of immortality.” We Jews know that there are many mountain tops — and all of them reach for the stars.
Morris N. Kertzer (1910-1983) American rabbi, writer
“What is a Jew?” Look Magazine (1954)
(Source)
This essay was expanded into a book by the same title; this passage underwent various revisions and expansion across different editions.
We do not ask for what useful purpose the birds do sing, for song is their pleasure since they were created for singing. Similarly, we ought not to ask why the human mind troubles to fathom the secrets of the heavens…. The diversity of the phenomena of Nature is so great, and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich, precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) German astronomer
(Attributed)
Some minds remain open long enough for the truth not only to enter, but to pass on through by way of a ready exit without pausing anywhere along the route.
Sister Elizabeth Kenny (1886-1952) Australian nurse
(Attributed)
It is from the numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man (or a woman) stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he (or she) sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-1968) American politician
“Day of Affirmation,” address, University of Capetown, South Africa (6 Jun 1966)
(Source)
Inscribed on the RFK gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery as "It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and injustice."
What is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.
Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-1968) American politician
The Pursuit of Justice,